The present invention is an apparatus for activation of a cellular telephone on a cellular telecommunications network, and more specifically is a cellular telephone which accepts a personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) card preprogrammed with instructions and questions that guide a user through applying for cellular service, programming and activation of the cellular telephone.
In recent years, public use of wireless communication devices has increased greatly. Specifically, the purchase and use of cellular telephones has become commonplace.
Cellular telephones are typically either independently powered hand-held units or are mounted in vehicles. Cellular telephones operate within a government defined frequency range. In recent years, cellular telephones have been manufactured with operating features identical to those found in conventional telephones. Such operating features include storage and recall of numbers in memory, voice mail and call blocking.
Furthermore, very recent cellular telephones have become more intelligent, resembling computers in some aspects. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,846, issued to Kemppi, a cellular telephone is locked so that it may only be used by a bearer of a specific programming card. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,593, issued to Zicker et al., a system for using a cellular telephone as a credit card paystation is set forth. Additionally, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,821, issued to Bishop, an equipment rental system which utilizes a cellular mobile telephone connected to a credit card reader to exchange information required in rental transactions is disclosed. Finally, in Europe, the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) uses a xe2x80x9csmart-cardxe2x80x9d. The smart-card contains information regarding the user in memory and serves as the intelligence of a cellular telephone into which the card is inserted.
A product recently sold in the United States is the Newton by Apple Computer Corp. The Newton is one of a line of products called personal digital assistants (PDAs) that have features such as, for example, handwriting capture devices, and fax/modem devices.
The combination of a computer and a cellular telephone is very powerful. For example, the ability to communicate files, electronic mail and voice with other computers or telephones from anywhere is a convenient and useful tool.
Cellular telephones provide this communication path with other telephones and computers through what are called Mobile Telephone Switching Office(s) (MTSO) and cell sites. Each cell site has a transmitter and receiver to provide communications, such as voice and data, with a cellular telephone while that cellular telephone is in its geographic domain. As is familiar to those skilled in the art, the MTSO tracks and switches a cellular telephone from cell site to cell site as it passes through various cell sites. The cell site sends voice and/or data communications from the cellular telephone to the MTSO, which switches the call to a destination in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. The connection between cell sites and a MTSO may be wireless or hard-wired. The plurality of MTSOs and cell sites together form a cellular telecommunications network.
A cellular telephone is monitored, tracked and serviced by the MTSO that controls the cell within which the cellular telephone is physically located. When a cellular telephone physically passes from one cell to another cell, the MTSO for the corresponding cells performs a xe2x80x9chand-offxe2x80x9d that allows the cellular telephone to be continually serviced. Likewise, in some cellular telecommunications networks, a cellular telephone can be handed-off when it passes from the domain of a first MTSO into the domain of a second MTSO.
Because of their mobility, devices incorporating cellular telephones must be light and compact. A user needs to be able to comfortably carry the cellular telephone in a pocket, purse or briefcase. To meet these requirements, cellular telephones typically have a minimum number of user input and display output devices. Limitation of user input and display output devices reduces the size and weight of cellular telephones. For example, it is common for a cellular telephone to have only a liquid crystal display (LCD), a numeric keypad, a very limited number of control buttons, such as a clear/end button, a send button and a power button. A personal digital assistant incorporating a cellular telephone might include a touch sensitive or pen-based screen in addition to the above list of user-interface devices.
As can be gathered from the above, cellular telephones are complex and expensive units. The complexity of cellular telephones is reflected in the time and expertise required for initiating operation of a cellular telephone on a cellular telecommunications network. The limited user input and display output devices in cellular telephones preclude the typical end user from programming the cellular telephone.
In the past, the needs to provide a trained individual to initiate operation of the cellular telephone on the cellular telecommunications network, to ensure the credit-worthiness of the user, and to provide the user with options regarding programming and use of the cellular telephone, such as rate and payment plan options, have converged into a single solution. Specifically, a xe2x80x9csales representativexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccustomer service representativexe2x80x9d was employed to:
(1) gather personal and financial information pertaining to the user,
(2) initiate a credit check on the user,
(3) present and explain options concerning custom call features and enhanced service options, such as call waiting, and rate and payment plans,
(4) accept a deposit from the user,
(5) contact a system administrator in a customer activation center to activate the cellular telephone in the cellular telecommunications network, and
(6) program the cellular telephone or arrange for a technician to program the cellular telephone.
Until now, the sales representative or customer service representative had to quiz the user regarding various personal and financial information, fill out forms regarding the user, send this information to the system administrator for the cellular telecommunications network, await a response from the administrator in the customer activation center (CAC), and program the cellular telephone or arrange for programming of the telephone by a technician.
Typically, the provider of services on the cellular telecommunications network pays a commission to its distribution channels for finding a customer and for performing these tasks. Distribution channels are familiar to those in the cellular industry field, including sales agents, retailers, etc. It typically requires at least thirty minutes for a customer service representative to sign up a new customer and get the cellular telephone activated and programmed. Retailers charge a very large commission for the provision of these services by their employees. Therefore, a large expense incurred in the provision of cellular services to users is directly attributable to commissions paid to customer service representatives.
There has been an attempt to facilitate and expedite the provision of cellular telephones and services to users. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,368, issued to Parker, a customer service representative logs onto a system comprising a terminal connected via a standard data communications link to a xe2x80x9cregional processorxe2x80x9d that is dedicated to activating cellular telephones. The customer service representative enters an ID number and other information necessary to access the system. The customer service representative inputs the user""s social security number to a regional processor which derives information about the customer based upon the user""s social security number. The central processor then gets credit approval and provides a credit report to the customer service representative. The regional processor then activates a number for the cellular telephone in the cellular telecommunications network. The Parker patent does not address programming the cellular telephone.
However, as set forth in the Parker patent, a trained customer service representative must still be involved in gathering information concerning the user. Furthermore, a dedicated network must be built and maintained to interact with the customer service representative. Finally, the customer service representative or a trained technician must presumably be engaged to program the cellular telephone for operation.
Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,403, issued to Sutphin, discusses programming certain specific features of a mobile cellular telephone from a MTSO. However, the programming of features disclosed in Sutphin is done after the cellular telephone has been activated on the cellular telecommunications network, and involves only ancillary features to operation such as repertory memory storage and call-in absence indicators controlled by software switches in the cellular telephone.
Thus, despite the above cited advances in cellular telephones and the interactions between the users of cellular telephones and other computers, the prior art does not disclose a way of automating the application for cellular service, programming of a cellular telephone and activating of a cellular telephone on a cellular telecommunications network.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an apparatus for automating application for cellular service, the sale and programming of cellular telephones and, more specifically, for providing the information necessary for a customer to use a cellular telephone on a cellular telecommunications network to a system administrator without assistance from a sales representative, a customer service representative or a technician.
The present invention is a cellular telephone that facilitates the initialization and programming necessary for using the cellular telephone on a cellular telecommunications network. Generally described, the cellular telephone of the present invention interacts with a user to prompt for and accept responses necessary for establishing the credit-worthiness of a buyer. The information about the user is sent by the cellular telephone to a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) where it is relayed to a system administrator who can review the information and approve activation of the cellular telephone on the cellular telecommunications network. The user of the cellular telephone is then provided with the information necessary to program the cellular telephone for operation on the cellular telecommunications network.
More specifically described, a personal computer memory card international association (PCMCIA) card is provided to the user who purchases or rents a cellular telephone. The PCMCIA card is preprogrammed with a series of questions. The PCMCIA card is inserted into a corresponding PCMCIA slot in the cellular telephone. At start-up, the controller in the cellular telephone reads the questions on the PCMCIA card and displays those questions to the user via the display on the cellular telephone. The questions concern rate plan options, choice of a long distance carrier, the personal and financial information necessary for a credit check, as well as the terms and conditions of a contract for cellular service. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user responds to the series of questions via a pressure-sensitive video screen on the cellular telephone.
In the present invention, a signature capture device is incorporated into the pressure-sensitive video screen in the cellular telephone. The PCMCIA card contains an instruction requesting the user to sign his or her name to indicate approval of a credit check and acceptance of the terms and conditions of a contract for cellular service should the user""s credit be acceptable. The signed name is digitized and stored with the responses to other questions.
When the user has responded to all questions provided by the PCMCIA card, instructions are provided by the PCMCIA card on the display for sending the responses to the customer activation center (CAC) via the MTSO servicing that cellular telephone. All cellular telephones can directly dial and communicate with the provider of cellular services via a preassigned telephone number if the cellular telecommunications network is configured for such operation. Thus, the responses to the questions are sent via this dedicated number to the provider of cellular services operating the cellular telecommunications network. The information may either be provided to a personal computer or other data terminal where it can be displayed, or the information can be provided via facsimile. The system administrator then performs any needed background and credit checks.
Typically, cellular telephones have a preassigned electronic serial number (ESN) preprogrammed in read only memory (ROM). The ESN uniquely identifies the telephone to the system administrator at the customer activation center. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, both the cellular telephone and the PCMCIA card provided with the cellular telephone are preprogrammed with the ESN. The ESN is stored in the PCMCIA card for purposes of activating the cellular telephone. The user of the cellular telephone need not look in a manual provided with the cellular telephone to find the ESN or type in the ESN for transmission to the customer activation center. The ESN is automatically sent to the customer activation center with the responses to the questions via the MTSO so that the cellular telephone can be identified and activated in the cellular telecommunications network. This prepares the cellular telecommunications network for monitoring and servicing the cellular telephone. Further operations, such as activating billing, are also performed in the customer activation center.
Once the above operations are complete, the mobile identification number (MIN) is assigned to the cellular telephone and the cellular telephone is activated in the cellular telecommunications network, an acknowledgment signal is sent by the provider of the cellular services via the MTSO to the user of the cellular telephone. The cellular telephone and customer activation center remain connected during the activation procedure via the original call from the cellular telephone. Also, the MIN, which is the telephone number for the cellular telephone, is sent to the cellular telephone by the system administrator via the MTSO. After the cellular telephone receives the acknowledgment signal and MIN number from the MTSO, the PCMCIA card provides the user with a series of instructions that guide the user through activating the cellular telephone for operation on the cellular telecommunications network.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the cellular telephone has an RJ-11 jack and is connected to the customer activation center via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The RJ-11 jack may be on the PCMCIA card that is inserted in the cellular telephone.
The present invention is a PCMCIA card for use with a cellular telephone, and comprises a connector for connecting the PCMCIA card to the cellular telephone, and has preprogrammed questions concerning the name of the user, preprogrammed questions concerning the address of the user, preprogrammed questions concerning financial information about the user, preprogrammed information concerning operation of the cellular telephone, and preprogrammed information concerning programming of the cellular telephone.
The present invention is also a cellular telephone for use in a cellular telecommunications network of the type having a customer activation center, and comprises a memory device containing preprogrammed questions, a display for providing the questions to a user of the cellular telephone, an input device for accepting responses from the user to the questions, means for providing the responses to the customer activation center, means for receiving information from the customer activation center, and a controller connected to the memory device, the input device, the display, the means for receiving information and the means for providing the responses, to control provision of the questions and the information to the user, acceptance of the responses, transmission of the responses to the customer activation center, and use of the information to program the cellular telephone for operation on the cellular telecommunications network. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the memory device is a PCMCIA card. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a transmitter and receiver in the cellular telephone support communication with the customer activation center via a MTSO.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention provides a method for programming a cellular telephone for operation on a cellular telecommunications network of the type having a customer activation center, and comprises the steps of retrieving questions from a memory device, displaying the questions to a user of the cellular telephone, accepting responses to the questions from the user, sending the responses to the customer activation center using the cellular telephone, and using the cellular telephone to receive information from the customer activation center for programming the cellular telephone to operate on the cellular telecommunications network.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the cellular telephone automatically hangs up or instructs the user to hang up after transmitting the file containing the responses and signature to the customer activation center. Subsequently, and instead of sending an acknowledgement signal to the cellular telephone, a system administrator calls the user of the cellular telephone. The system administrator calls the cellular telephone via a preassigned or xe2x80x9cdummyxe2x80x9d MIN number and orally tells the user the instructions necessary for programming the cellular telephone. The dummy number is a temporary telephone number that enables the system administrator to call the new cellular telephone. The user then keys in the specified numbers, including the new MIN that is programmed over the dummy number. The dummy MIN number may be preprogrammed into the cellular telephone or in the PCMCIA card. This embodiment of the invention requires coordinating the provision of the dummy MIN number(s) with manufacturers of cellular telephones so that the dummy MIN number(s) can be assigned and programmed in the cellular telephones or in the PCMCIA cards during manufacturing.
In another alternative embodiment of the present invention, the cellular telephone has an input/output data port, such as a serial port, and is thereby connected to a personal computer via a hard-wire connection. A PCMCIA card or a floppy disk is preprogrammed with the questions and instructions necessary to program and activate operation of the cellular telephone, as discussed above. The PCMCIA card or floppy disk is read by the personal computer. The user views the questions on the personal computer display and responds to the questions using the keyboard associated with the personal computer. A signature capture device is located on the personal computer display, or on the cellular telephone display. The responses to the questions and the user""s signature are communicated from the personal computer to the customer activation center through the cellular telephone and the MTSO, or alternatively through the cellular telephone and the PSTN. The personal computer is also used to program the cellular telephone. Instructions for programming the cellular telephone are shown on the display and programming data is entered by the user via the keyboard.
This embodiment of the present invention is a cellular telephone for use in a cellular telecommunications network of the type having a customer activation center and for use with a personal computer which includes a memory device containing preprogrammed questions, and comprises a connector for connecting the cellular telephone to the personal computer, a display for providing the questions to a user of the cellular telephone, an input device for accepting responses from the user to the questions, means for providing the responses to the customer activation center, means for receiving information from the customer activation center, and a controller connected to the personal computer, the input device, the display, the means for receiving information and the means for providing the responses, to control provision of the questions and the information to the user, acceptance of the responses, transmission of the responses, to the customer activation center and use of the information to program the cellular telephone for operation on the cellular telecommunications network.
Alternatively, the present invention is a cellular telephone for use in a cellular telecommunications network of the type having a customer activation center and for use with a personal computer including a display, and comprises a memory device containing preprogrammed questions, a connector for connecting the cellular telephone to the personal computer, an input device for accepting responses from a user to the questions, means for providing the responses to the customer activation center, means for receiving information from the customer activation center, and a controller connected to the memory device, the input device, the personal computer through the connector, the means for receiving information and the means for providing the responses, to control provision of the questions and the information to a user via the display, acceptance of the responses, transmission of the responses to the customer activation center, and use of the information to program the cellular telephone for operation on the cellular telecommunications network.
Alternatively, the present invention is a cellular telephone for use in a cellular telecommunications network of the type having a customer activation center and for use with a personal computer which includes an input device, and comprises a memory device containing preprogrammed questions, a display for providing the questions to a user of the cellular telephone, a connector for connecting the cellular telephone to the personal computer, means for providing the responses to the customer activation center, means for receiving information from the customer activation center, and a controller connected to the memory device, the personal computer through the connector, the display, the means for receiving information and the means for providing the responses, to control provision of the questions and the information to the user, acceptance of the responses from the user via the input device, transmission of the responses to the customer activation center, and use of the information to program the cellular telephone for operation on the cellular telecommunications network.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cellular telephone that obtains personal and financial information from a purchaser of a cellular telephone without requiring a sales representative or customer service representative to gather information from the purchaser and provide the information to a system administrator in the customer activation center for the cellular telecommunications network.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cellular telephone that transfers personal and financial information from a purchaser of a cellular telephone to a customer activation center.
It is a yet another object of the present invention to facilitate programming of a cellular telephone by the user of the cellular telephone
That the present invention accomplishes these objects and overcomes the above cited drawbacks of the prior art will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description in the preferred embodiment to follow.